A powerful love story from the author of the international bestseller A SUITABLE BOY A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music ...AN EQUAL MUSIC is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found and lost again; it is a book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate fugue through a life. It is the story of Michael, of Julia, and of the love that binds them. 'A novel that can stand being reread and reread, but the first time round is an emotional cliffhanger ...secure a copy for yourself, settle down, and prepare for the unforgettable' Sunday Times

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Product Description:

A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music ...AN EQUALl MUSIC is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found and lost again; it is a book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate fugue through a life. It is the story of Michael, of Julia, and of the love that binds them. 'A novel that can stand being reread and reread, but the first time round is an emotional cliffhanger ...secure a copy for yourself, settle down, and prepare for the unforgettable' Sunday Times

Review:

The violinist hero of Vikram Seth's third novel would very much like to be hearing secret harmonies. Instead, living in London 10 years after a key disaster, Michael Holme is easily irritated by his beautiful young (and even French!) girlfriend and by his colleagues in the Maggiore Quartet. In short, he's fed up with playing second fiddle in life and art. Yet a chance encounter with Julia, the pianist he had loved and lost in Vienna, brings Michael sudden bliss. Her situation, however--and the secret that may end her career--threatens to undo the lovers.

An Equal Music is a fraction of the size of Seth's A Suitable Boy, but is still deliciously expansive. In under 400 pages, the author offers up exquisite complexities, personal and lyrical, while deftly fielding any fears that he's composed a Harlequin for highbrows. During one emotional crescendo, Michael tells Julia, "I don't know how I've lived without you all these years," only to realize, "how feeble and trite my words sound to me, as if they have been plucked out of some housewife fantasy." In addition to the pitch of its love story, one of the book's joys lies in Seth's creation of musical extremes. As the Maggiore rehearses, moving from sniping and impatience to perfection, the author expertly notates the joys of collaboration, trust, and creation. "It's the weirdest thing, a quartet," one member remarks. "I don't know what to compare it to. A marriage? a firm? a platoon under fire? a self-regarding, self-destructive priesthood? It has so many different tensions mixed in with its pleasures."

An Equal Music is a novel in which the length of Schubert's Trout Quintet matters deeply, the discovery of a little-known Beethoven opus is a miracle, and each instrument has its own being. Just as Michael can't hope to possess Julia, he cannot even dream of owning his beloved Tononi, the violin he has long had only on loan. And it goes without saying that Vikram Seth knows how to tell a tale, keeping us guessing about everything from what the Quartet's four-minute encore will be to what really occasioned Julia's departure from Michael's life. (Or was it in fact Michael who abandoned Julia?) As this love story ranges from London to Michael's birthplace in the north of England to Vienna to Venice, few readers will remain deaf to its appeals. --Kerry Fried

Book Description Orion Publishing Co, United Kingdom, 2004. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Impr.. 192 x 128 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. A powerful love story from the author of the international bestseller A SUITABLE BOY A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music .AN EQUAL MUSIC is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found and lost again; it is a book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate fugue through a life. It is the story of Michael, of Julia, and of the love that binds them. A novel that can stand being reread and reread, but the first time round is an emotional cliffhanger .secure a copy for yourself, settle down, and prepare for the unforgettable Sunday Times. Bookseller Inventory # AA29780753807736

Book Description Orion Publishing Co, United Kingdom, 2004. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Impr.. 192 x 128 mm. Language: English . Brand New Book. A powerful love story from the author of the international bestseller A SUITABLE BOY A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music .AN EQUAL MUSIC is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found and lost again; it is a book about music and how the love of music can run like a passionate fugue through a life. It is the story of Michael, of Julia, and of the love that binds them. A novel that can stand being reread and reread, but the first time round is an emotional cliffhanger .secure a copy for yourself, settle down, and prepare for the unforgettable Sunday Times. Bookseller Inventory # AA29780753807736

Book Description Phoenix House, 2004. Book Condition: New. Brand new book, sourced directly from publisher. Dispatch time is 24-48 hours from our warehouse. Book will be sent in robust, secure packaging to ensure it reaches you securely. Bookseller Inventory # NU-BER-00151637

Book Description 1999. Paperback. Book Condition: New. 130mm x 197mm x 33mm. Paperback. A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music .AN EQUALl MUSIC is a book about love, about the love .Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. 496 pages. 0.334. Bookseller Inventory # 9780753807736

Book Description Paperback. Book Condition: New. Not Signed; A powerful love story from the author of the international bestseller A SUITABLE BOY A chance sighting on a bus; a letter which should never have been read; a pianist with a secret that touches the heart of her music .AN EQUAL MUSIC is a book about love, about the love of a woman lost and found a. book. Bookseller Inventory # ria9780753807736_rkm

Book Description Phoenix, 2004. Paperback. Book Condition: New. Brand New Book. Shipping: Once your order has been confirmed and payment received, your order will then be processed. The book will be located by our staff, packaged and despatched to you as quickly as possible. From time to time, items get mislaid en route. If your item fails to arrive, please contact us first. We will endeavour to trace the item for you and where necessary, replace or refund the item. Please do not leave negative feedback without contacting us first. All orders will be dispatched within two working days. If you have any quesions please contact us. Bookseller Inventory # V9780753807736